Applied Aerospace & Defense achieved a valuation of $3.54 billion after its shares opened 3.8% above the offer price in their New York Stock Exchange debut on Wednesday, setting the tone for a busy week of initial public offerings.
The stock opened at $20.75 apiece, compared with the offer price of $20. The Huntsville, Alabama-based space and defense hardware provider raised $650 million in the IPO by selling 32.5 million shares within the marketed range of $18 to $21 apiece.
Seven companies spanning AI infrastructure to software are slated to go public in New York this week, tying the record for the busiest week since 2021, according to Renaissance Capital, a provider of IPO-focused research and ETFs.
Defense tech has also been a recurring theme in the IPO market since April as issuers look to capitalize on structural tailwind stemming from the Middle East conflict.
Middle-market-focused buyout firm Greenbriar Equity Group combined portfolio companies Applied Aerospace and PCX Aerosystems last year to form Applied Aerospace & Defense.
Applied, whose legacy businesses have been operating for more than a century, makes complex hardware such as solid rocket motor cases, flight control surfaces, fuselage assemblies, and engine shafts, for aerospace and defense markets.
The company has expanded through more than a dozen acquisitions since 2021. Business from Applied's top three customers accounted for roughly 59% of its revenue last year.
It has long-standing supplier relationships with blue-chip firms SpaceX, Boeing, Northrop, RTX, Lockheed and Blue Origin.
The firm supplies vital components such as nose cones, fairings, protective covers, and payload adapters for SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.
